Something/Me

Something/Me

by Plaridel Batatan, Jr.

There’s this little demon hanging over my head

She calls herself vain

He call himself insane

It thirsts madly, as it thinks it was madly bled

There’s this tiny horn that slithers on my scalp

She digs from skin to skull

He lays poison and in my thoughts he skulks

Tick-tock, tick-tock, it sings and yelps

There’s this minute spirit perched upon my shoulders

She hisses her whispers and chuckles her riddles

He spins wretched tales and false solutions

From the bottom of my belly, I can feel them closer

There’s this little evil gnawing on my back

She pushes abruptly, lifting limb after limb in hate

He thumps me into lunges, forcing the pieces to break

I think I’ve awakened them, as my very sanity seems to crack

There’s this little demon

This tiny, evil horn

Who roots itself

Within

Me

Hay(na)ku Experimentation

Hay(na)ku Experimentation

by Plaridel Batatan, Jr.

Hay(na)ku is a form of modern poetry created by Filipino poet Eileen Tabios in 2003. Traditional hay(na)ku poems are tercet (3 lines) poems, consisting of 6 words (1 in the first line, 2 in the second, and 3 in the third).

Frown, Smile

Frown

Upside down

You are smiling

- - -

Shoe Run Run

Wear your shoes

Just keep

Running

- - -

Pen & Paper

Written

Expressions, phrases

All is written

Paper

Pen, pencil

Or any utensil

- - -

Breakfast

Coffee

Hot water

And sugar cubes

A little creamer

And stir

Coffee

- - -

Deadlines

Adhere to time

And work

Non-stop

Always

Working non-stop

Death by deadlines

- - -

A Glorious Untold

I know stories

That sing

Colors

Colors

Like notes

On a staff

Like a choir

Of angels

Singing

Melodies

Inexpressibly beautiful

Uplifting broken souls

They are stories

That breathe

Inspire

Lives

Are changed

New chances given

They are told

From the

Heart

Why Should I Be Afraid?

Why Should I Be Afraid?
by Plaridel Batatan, Jr. 

I've spun a million tales
Of regrets and mistakes
They're not the tales I want to tell

I've sung a million songs
Of aches and breaks
They're not songs I'd like to sing

I've written a million letters
Of disappointments and failures
They're not letters I want to send

But then upon my brow, upon my heavy temple
A lingering thought, like a dancing whistle
Disrupts my daily sulking

Why should I be afraid?
Why should I hide?
Why should I whimper away?

If I confess in my bitter letters
The sweetness you bring in my life
Why should I be afraid to let you know?
 Is not the world shrouded with too much hate?

If I confess thru weeping songs
The joy and delight you bring to my mind
Why should I be afraid to let you hear them?
Is not the silence of the world today overwhelming?

If I confess while I spin twisted tales
The way you bring me to the straight and narrow
Why should I be afraid to let you see how I've changed?
Is not the indifference and constant conformity in the world tiresome?

Then again, I should be afraid

I should be afraid, because you don't know
I should be afraid, because you won't know
I should be afraid, because you'll never know

I am afraid because I can't let you know
I can't let you know because I'm afraid

Funny Things (No Sleep Is Dangerous)

Funny Things (No Sleep Is Dangerous)
by Plaridel Batatan, Jr.

Moments of no sleep
Seduce you into a sudden shock
Of induced imagination retarded-ness

Stuck in the middle of a snoring class
While the sun whistles and the rain teases
As men wear make-up and girls shave their heads

A little chimp with butterflies for eye-lashes
Slings to and fro on rainbows and dried out clouds
His purple-orange-yellow fur secretes glitter and confetti

An elephant made of jello, rice, and walnuts
Rides a turkey wearing a skirt, a hood, and socks
Both laugh and giggle like paparazzi cameras with flash

The chewed up gum marches from my mouth
She turns into a cardboard replica of King Kong
But she sounds like Tina Fey and sings like Jonny Lang

The walls tickle themselves with color
Corners dance with silly looking triangles
And the floor is doing the worm like a professional

The trees outside clap with coconut leis
And Lily Allen dances in, beaming with disco lights ensnared in her hair
Giant Whip-Cream cans and Bananas invade the dancing room

It's never a good idea to go without sleep
Whether it's a day or two, or even a few hours
Craziness is always a choice

Leave My Head

I thought the skies were blue again
I thought the birds' songs were joyous
I thought the flowers were in bloom
I thought the air seemed cool

I thought it all
I thought of all the good thoughts
I thought it all
But it wasn't, none of it was

Lingering behind the corridors of my dreams
My twisted, ill-ridden dreams
Are the memories of you
Playfully taunting my broken self

Why do you tear me to pieces, love?
When I have loved you a million lifetimes
You still did not attend to my beckon
And even turned wholly away from me

In times we were alone, your fingers
Your lovely fingers
Galloped like ghostly horses across my back
Those cold, lifeless fingers

Leave me be then, love
For you have said with your own mouth
Spitting forth the songs of your heart
That I am nothing to you

Let me go then, wretched love
For you have nailed into my skin
Using hammers I trusted you with
A self-hate like no other

Leave my head, beautiful darling
My dearest, my lost love
I shall write of you and our love
Then think of you no more

For what good will there be
What wonderful thing will be begotten from this
What shall we use to inspire others like us
You give no answer, for there is no answer

As our hands once met before
As our lips touched for the first time
As our spirits became one
I beg of you to let me go

We may no longer be
We can no longer be
We must no longer be
Anything more than this

So leave my thoughts be
Let my dreams grow and thrive
Let my heart live again
And let yourself find life once again

Come To Surface

Come To Surface
by Plaridel Batatan, Jr.

I sink below the depths of my thoughts,

The chasms and caves of my beating heart

Lost in a labyrinth so massive,

So elaborate, a maze seemingly unmatched

I dare to dive into that black space

Whose eyes had tricked me once before

To stare into your eyes

To burn in your gaze

I dare to drown myself beneath that unforgiving space

Whose alluring voice had lied to me

To hear you speak

To be romanced by words soaked in passion

I dare let that insatiable sea swallow my spirit

Whose scents and fragrances led me astray like a drunk

To smell the smell I find on you

To wander across your body aimlessly

I tremble

For the grasp of your hands

To curl your fingers into mine

Where they fit so perfectly

So effortlessly in place

I shudder

For the brush of your breath on my skin

To feel the slow heat from your arms

Where my thoughts for you roam freely

Meandering wildly

I quiver

For the dawdling collision of torso and lips

To intertwine legs and lock toes

Where my feet lay unhurried, unbothered

Oblivious to the travels ahead

I convulse

For the moments I glimpse you beside me

To share thoughts and memories

Where our playful spirits mingle and flutter

Galloping into the breeze

I dream madly of you, love

And I await for that day to come
When you and I will catch each other
In an everlasting, tender embrace

Only then shall I come to surface
As a whale from the watery abyss would to breathe
Only then shall I feel able to respire again
Knowing my reason to breathe is by my side

Does The Sun Shine At Night?

Does The Sun Shine At Night?
by Plaridel Batatan, Jr. 

That morning sky
When bubbles full of rainbows flutter
In ocean breeze and grass that tickles

When the clouds dance by
And the joyous laughing and chatter
Whilst the pollen with the drizzle mingles

Does the sun shine at night?

I saw a couple of rainbows shatter
When a field of flowers wilted
And the ocean wailed into insanity

When the clouds seemed battered
The laughter and chatter jilted
And the bubbles died with vanity

And we lost the sunlight to the night

I could barely breathe
I can barely even stand
Was it because of what I said?

My body trembles as my blood seethes
The flesh underneath scrapes my skin like sand
Was it because of what I did?

I miss the sunlight and it's life-giving warmth

In the midst of all the doomed tragic love songs
In the middle of all the jeering broken hearts
Could the sun still shine?

As the moments and memories seem distorted and wrong
And dreams hopelessness thwarts
Will the sun still shine?

Many say the sun shines at night, but only when love is nearby